Amplification for a poor college student

Malcom · #1 10-21-2002, 03:17 PM

I started playing upright bass the summer before my senior year of high school, after high school I sort of put serious upright practicing on the rocks. Recently I've begun to Jam on DB with a guy. I've decided to get a decent pickup/preamp. I have a woodpicker stick on pu which I place near the bass foot of the bridge. This sounds very ok, but if I turn the soundboard of even slightly toward my speaker cab (I'm using a SWR SM-400s with a Hartke 4X10) I get a sort of feedback effect (not an uncontrollable howl, sort of a sustained frequency).

I'm looking to play this bass in a sort of alterna-rock format, I will not be slapping much. What would be the best low-cost preamp and/or pickup purchase I could make in order to get a decent upright sound?

My budget requires I try to stay under $300, and I cannot afford anything $500-ish.

lermgalieu · #2 10-21-2002, 03:25 PM

K&K is well within your price range and recommended by several people in these parts, although I am sure there are some other good ones worth considering. For more about K&K, you can search on it here, and pricing is available at http://www.gollihur.com. And no, I don't work for them!

Bob Gollihur · #3 10-21-2002, 05:11 PM

I see that someone suggested you check my site for an alternate pickup, and I appreciate the mention.

You will find that some pickups can provide a higher volume level before feedback. However, all acoustic instruments will feed back due to their structure, since their very nature is to vibrate, and amplifier output will eventually cause the instrument to resonate to the output frequency and begin the cycle of feedback. It is always a challenge to amplify acoustic instruments.

I have sent you a private message with the text from the feedback section in the supplement I include with all my pickup and preamp sales. I hope some of the information will be useful to you.